


i've tried goodbye a hundred time (not one of them true)

by ohmygodfoxtrot



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-02-22 09:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13164510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmygodfoxtrot/pseuds/ohmygodfoxtrot
Summary: The first time it happens, it’s daisies.Seven year old William watches in fascination as the flowers appear, line by line, around his wrist and up his arm. They’re just black outlines, with little yellow dots in the middle, but they fascinate him, and he watches as they grow all the way up to his elbow.And then Mitch slams his desk.





	1. Chapter 1

    The first time it happens, it’s daisies.

    Seven year old William watches in fascination as the flowers appear, line by line, around his wrist and up his arm. They’re just black outlines, with little yellow dots in the middle, but they fascinate him, and he watches as they grow all the way up to his elbow. He’s heard about this, how it’ll be amazing the first time his connection with his soulmate kicks in and he sees their drawings. He knows the biggest rule- words won’t cross, so there’s no point in trying, so for now he justs stares at them, watches as the girl on the other side decides that there’s not enough color, and fills them in with deep blue’s and purples. 

    And then Mitch slams his desk.

    “Whatcha got there, Will?

    Will tucks his arm behind his back. Mitch is two years older, and every kid in the class is scared of him. 

    “Nothing.”

    Mitch sneers. 

    “Looked like flowers, huh? What kinda boy has got flowers on his arm?”

    Will looks down. “I think it’s my soulmate.”

    Mitch laughs. “Well, at least you’ve got a girl, Will. Wasn’t sure if that was going to happen.

    And with that, he stalks off, on to torment another kid.

    William slumps over. He’s seen how Mitch draws what looks like blood on his arms, open wounds and gore, and he’s seen how what comes back through is black scribbles, covering whatever he draws to whoever’s on the other end. 

    He doesn’t think Mitch and his soulmate will ever really be in love.

    He asks for the bathroom pass, and when he gets to the bathroom, he tries scrubbing the flowers off. He doesn’t want Mitch mocking him anymore, and even though he know it doesn’t work like that, he thinks that maybe if he hopes hard enough, they’ll disappear. He spends so long in there that the teacher comes looking for him. When she sees him, she looks startled.

    “What are you doing, Will?”

    He looks away. “Mitch was mockin’ me for ‘em, and I just wanted them to go away so he wouldn’t anymore, Miss Elliot. I’m sorry.”

    She squats down to look him in the eye. “

    “William, always treasure your soulmate bond. Okay?”

    He nods. “Okay.”

    She walks him back to class, and keeps an eye on him the rest of the day. And when William gets home afterwards, he digs through his markers, finds the closest to his skin color, and goes to town on his arm.


	2. Chapter 2

     Derek stares in confusion at his arm as a soft pale pink color appears under all the flowers he’d drawn in class earlier. He knows it’s his soulmate, but he doesn’t know why they’d be doing that. He needs to go ask his papa.

     Thankfully, it’s his weekend with him, and he trots off to find him. His papa studies soulmates for a living, so he’ll know what’s going on. He always does.

     He find him in the study, reading a book. He thrusts his arm out.

     “What’s this, Derek?

     “Well, earlier in class, I was bored, because you’ve already taught me how to do multiply my single digits, so I doodled those flowers that are outside the window of my class, the pretty ones I was telling you about? And now there’s pink appearing underneath them!”

    “Ahh, Derek, it must mean that your soulmate is coloring over the flowers.”

    “But why would they do that? They’re pretty!”

    “I don’t know, Derek, every person is different. Some people just don’t like flowers.”

    Derek pouts. “I’m never gonna like someone who doesn’t like flowers.”

    “Not everyone likes their soulmates. A soulmate is something the universe thinks you have the strongest connection with, and that connection is different for everyone.”

    “What about you, papa? What about your soulmate?”

    He smiles. “I never told you? Whenever I’m taking notes, they appear on my skin, and whenever I write on my skin, they appear in my notebook. It’s very handy. My connection is with my work, Derek.”

     “Do most people have soulmates? Like other people?”

     “In my experience, ninety eight point eight people have a soulmate bond with another person.”

    “So you’re special, papa.”

    “Everyone is special. I’ve met so many people, and every one was unique. You are unique, and your soulmate is unique, and you can’t pass judgement on a person just because they don’t like flowers. Wait for them, and decide how you feel about them then.”

     Derek nods. “Thank you, papa.” He runs back to his room.

     He doesn’t know what to do. If he draws more flowers, his soulmate might get upset, and he doesn’t want that, but maybe seeing the flowers will make him like them more. He’ll wait for now, but he hopes that one day, his soulmate will stop coloring over them. 


	3. Chapter 3

    His soulmate graduates to petunias when Dex is about ten. 

    These ones generally get done in yellow, and the detailing is better too. She’s gotten good at capturing the shades of the flowers, although the shading is a bit wonky. 

    He wears long sleeves now, even in the summer months, and tells no one about his bond. It’s for the best, because people can’t mock what they can’t see. 

    It’s gym day when it all goes wrong.

    “New rule: there’s a P.E. uniform, Wearing it is a part of your grade, and you can pick one up at the office. Replacements will be ten dollars.”

    Of course it’s short sleeved. 

    He changes quietly, stands in line for inspection. Another kid snorts. 

    “Flowers, Poindexter? Got a girly girl for a soulmate, huh?”

    His face burns, and the teacher yells at the kid for talking, but it’s too late. 

    “It’s not like I can do anything about them.” He mutters. He’s given up on covering them with a marker, cause apparently that’s an ink poisoning risk, but he hasn’t found another good solution yet. 

    He makes it through the rest of the day, comes storming home. When he gets there, his sister Maddie is in the bathroom, and her freckles are gone.

    “What the  _ fuck?” _

__ “Language, little bro. Mom took me shopping for foundation.”

    His face twists. “Is that some sort of girly thing?”

    “Why do you care so much?”

    He sighs, rolling up his sleeves. Her eyes widen.

    “Dude, why don’t you talk about this? This is so cool.”

    “Cause the kids at school mock me. She’s so obsessed with drawing flowers, Maddie, and there’s nothing I can  _ do.   _ So if you can cover your freckles, why can’t I cover these things?”

    “Okay, I’ll talk to mom with you tonight.”

    Later that day, his mom sits quietly as Maddie and Will persuade her that Will really does need to find something to cover up his flowers, and the next weekend she takes him shopping at some makeup store, for a couple things that Will needs to keep his flowers hidden, and he learns to apply them, step by step, to keep them covered all day. 

    Eventually, he doesn’t even know what the flowers are, doesn’t bother looking when he washes his arms at night, doesn’t pay attention when he applies it in the morning, and it saves him so much torment.

    He hopes foundation doesn’t count under the rules, and that his soulmate doesn’t know how much he hates the flowers. He still wants a chance with her, someday, after all. 


End file.
